PvP: Useful Tactics That Can Determine Victory!

The PvP system is more in depth than we ever thought. Strategy is the name of the game. Especially since PvP is absolutely random. You’ll never know what your opponent is going to throw at you. With this in mind, let’s go over all the current tactics I’ve found that you can use to try and ensure victory!

Bye Bye Shields!

If you’re looking for which charge move typings your Pokémon should have, you can read our importance of type coverage article here. But when it comes to what tactics you can use with these charge moves, there seems to be something interesting I have come across. Diminishing your opponent’s shields should be a top priority. That way landing a huge blow will hit 100% later on in the battle resulting in a victory. So how can we actually get rid of those 2 shields your opponent has so quickly? Well you may have guessed it – 3 bar charge moves. Currently, these are the moves that charge up the fastest in Pokémon GO. Throw a Pokémon out like Latios with Dragon Claw Dragon at the beginning of a battle and chances are you will be the one to fire off a charge move first. If your opponent decides to take the hit, great! If not, one shield down, another one to go. Now of course type effectiveness and your opponent’s Pokémon will play a role in these situations also. Again, that goes with the complete randomness that is PvP. As a general rule of thumb, 3 bar charge moves can and will draw out shields from your opponent. Use this tactic wisely trainers!

Side Note: There are moves that generate energy faster than others. This will further enhance your charge bar filling capabilities. If you’re interested in which quick moves these are, click here.

Save Those Pokémon!

With double transfer candy coming up, saving valuable Pokémon that can be used for PvP is a must. Currently, Niantic slammed us all with some heavy stardust and candy cost limitations. These limits are shown below.

What Pokémon fall under the important category you may ask? Honestly, that is subjective. Anything you have found success with within the PvP system is definitely worth keeping, then transferring all of your duplicates for that added double candy. The extra candy will help unlock that 2nd charge move for your team which is absolutely critical. Starters and other Pokémon with the cost of 1km buddy distance is worth saving for spare candies as well. Being able to unlock a 2nd charge move at such a low cost will deem valuable for strategies in all leagues. Especially in type coverage situations! Also, hope you’ve been saving your legendary Pokémon within these past couple months! Transferring the bad ones for double candy is a MUST! Ultimately, being able to afford a 2nd charge move will be a useful tactic to try and help ensure a win in any situation.

Double candy for catching and transferring starts on Dec 18th and ends on Dec 22nd.

Switching

Do not try to switch offensively. The one who switches first is at a disadvantage.* Trying to switch to a type combo that hits your current opponent harder will not work, because he will also switch and then you’ll be at the receiving end of that very tactic – by Oliver Neukum.

*There are situations where you can indeed switch at the beginning of a battle and still come out victorious. The art of switching out is a strategy within itself. It all depends on what Pokémon your opponent has. I, for example, have won many battles by switching out my first Pokémon due to a severe type disadvantage. No need to sit there and just faint with no type coverage right? Wasting shields would deem worthless as well. Having a good variety of Pokémon on your team will help make a bad start to a battle end up being a victorious one.

Other Tactics

There are a few of other small tactics that can help win a battle. Here is a list of them.

NEVER stop tapping! When your opponent switches out Pokémon or after you use a shield, 1 to 2 “ghost” hits will damage your opponent! This may be a bug, but utilize it!

Throw your opponent off by using a charge move while they are switching out Pokémon. This may bait out an accidental shield or draw one out of your opponent altogether.

Build up a charge move, then switch Pokémon in order to “save” that charge move for later. Perhaps when your opponent is out of shields or when you are in a bind.

If you have 2 charge moves, bait a shield by using one of them that isn’t very effective. Making your opponent think they can just take the next charge move without fainting.

Have any other tactics to share? Drop them in the comments below! Get out there and start winning trainers!

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